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ICT Training for Teachers |
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| Module 4: Planning for and Managing the Use of ICT |
Many teachers feel worried about integrating ICT into their lessons. A number of reasons have been identified for this - either teachers are unsure about their role, or they feel that their role will be undermined if they know less about ICT than their pupils do. Few teachers have had extensive opportunities to use ICT in their own education. This means that few teachers have had access to models for ICT teaching. As a participant in Talent training you will have the opportunity to work with an advisory teacher who will work with small groups in your classroom or the whole class and provide coaching and modelling in the teaching of ICT. You will also have the opportunity to use ICT in a tutor-supported environment during a 2 day taught course. This will help to develop your skill and confidence in using ICT tools. Also helpful are video materials called Teaching Today - Primary IT (there is also a secondary video), which have been produced by BBC Education. These show teachers planning the integration of ICT into teaching, teaching the whole class and working with small groups, and reflecting together on the impact of ICT on their teaching and on children's learning. This video material will form part of the 2 day taught course you will be attending as part of your training.
Paper based resources which may be helpful are the DfES IT scheme (discussed in Module 3). The scheme is divided into units. Each unit has a number of different teaching activities divided into three categories: 1) scene setting, 2) short focused tasks and 3) integrated tasks. These give a description of a range of possible teaching activities and are helpful to teachers who are inexperienced in teaching with ICT. Also helpful is the Lewisham publication "Ideas for integrating ICT into the primary and secondary classroom". Each task in this publication has a section where a teacher explains the approach to the lesson. This outlines how teachers managed the activity in the classroom, for example, where whole class teaching was used, how pupils were grouped and how the activity was differentiated.
In Module 2 and Module 3 you had the opportunity to identify and evaluate resources and plan for their use in the classroom, including how you will allow for differentiation between pupils. You should by now have tried out an ICT activity with a small group of children and reflected on the results. In this module you will focus on: 1) your role as a teacher and 2) managing ICT in the classroom.
You will need to think about the organisation and monitoring of the pupils in the lessons and how you will manage the computer. If you have an ICT Suite you will need to think about how you organise pupils differently from organising pupils to use one computer in the corner of your classroom. You will also need to consider health and safety issues. You may want to group pupils individually; in pairs; whole class; in task teams (some using ICT while others are planning strategies); by ability (same or mixed); by age (same or older pupils helping younger ones). Pupils working individually is a useful strategy where pupils need to develop a skill or where they need to rework ideas. Grouping children to work on shared ICT tasks is an effective way of working with computers. Children will help each other solve problems and can help each other to extend their own learning. However, group working needs careful monitoring to ensure all individuals are contributing equally to the group. Some of the following questions may help you to think through the issues:
When planning tasks, it is not necessary for every pupil to do the same activity on the computer; they can meet the learning intentions for ICT in a variety of contexts. You will need to be realistic in allocating time for each activity. Try also to plan a variety of tasks so that pupils experience different contexts which require them to think about solving similar problems but in different situations. Both you and the pupils need to recognise when the use of ICT is appropriate or not. You will find the Lewisham publication "ideas for integrating ICT into the primary and secondary classroom" a helpful resource for planning activities.
You will also need to ensure that activities will be accessible to all pupils, including pupils of different gender, ethnicity and ability (including children with Special Educational Needs). It is sometimes a good idea to try out an activity, on a small representative group of pupils, before implementing it on a larger scale. This will enable you to find out whether children respond differently and will inform your lesson planning.
When planning activities, you will also need to consider what pupils will be learning, i.e. the learning intentions. You need to ask some questions about pupils' prior knowledge and the range of skills they have already developed:
In order to ensure you have an activity which will move all pupils forward, you may need to set tasks at different levels so that all pupils can participate. You may find it helpful to map the learning intentions against the National Curriculum levels of attainment, for both the subject context and for ICT. This will give you an idea of the different levels of difficulty of the task you are planning. You should also identify other curriculum areas which the activity will support, for example, a mathematical activity may also relate to Numeracy and Geography.
Guidelines on observing pupils on an ICT activity.
The following questions may help you in the process of planning to observe pupils when they are engaged on an activity. This will help you to identify what they are learning and would also be useful to you when you are reflecting on your practice.
When observing children working on your activity you may want to consider the following:
Task 8
Managing the use of ICT in the Literacy Hour
For some ideas on managing the use of ICT in the Literacy Hour click below:
As well as issues to do with managing pupils and resources, you will also need to consider health and safety issues. The following are some simple guidelines to ensure computers are used safely in the classroom. You may have your own ideas which you will want to add to the list.
Electrical Safety
Discomfort
Pupils themselves should be taught to recognise hazards, to assess consequent risks and to take steps control the risks to themselves and others. They should be taught to manage their environment to ensure the health and safety of themselves and others when engaged in any practical activity (QCA, Developing the School Curriculum, 1999).
Task 9